Expensive Tradies

Renovating, refurbishing, refreshing whatever you're doing, in WA it'll cost you. And it's now official, WA tradies are charging top dollar for their services, with Perth families paying more than every other state.

"That mining boom is easing; people are starting to turn around their ideas of making money one of those is renovation." Jeremy Levitt is from Australia's largest online tradie site, Service Seeking - their recent survey compared more 50,000 quotes nationwide.

"We've seen almost a 70 percent increase in the number of jobs listed and as these DIY realities TV shows start to increase in popularity."

So how does WA compare:

The average tradie will cost you $68 an hour, followed closely by South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and the cheapest state for a trade is Victoria, at just $55 an hour.

"It's amazing the difference in quotes" home renovator Terry Machim, has used dozens of tradespeople to give his 1970's home a makeover. From glaziers, to tilers, electricians and cabinet makers, Terry says he's prepared to pay more, for a tradie who presents themselves well. "I think what we look for mainly is the tradie will treat the job as if it was his own home working on."

The survey compared popular trades across the country.

Here in WA the average plumber charges almost $100 an hour, nearly $20 more than the national average.

In WA, a sparky will set you back on average $87 an hour, in other states, it's just over $70, and the lowest is Victoria.

As for painters, the average price per hour is $43 dollars, comparable to the rest of the country, at $41 dollars.

Tiling on the other hand in WA will cost less than other states at $37 dollars an hour compared to an average of $43 for the rest of the country.

According to Jeremy, more people are now using the service seeking site, because they can compare more quotes more quickly, "it flips the ring around upside down, it's great to compare a range of quotes and prices with minimum effort."

To get the best value for money; Jeremy suggests;

Compare multiple quotes.

Check qualifications and licences.

Make sure they are operating within the tax system where credit card payments are permitted.